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So THIS IS SARAH is due out on Friday (what???). I’ll be spending this week posting excerpts from the book so you guys can see what it’s all about. The chapters alternate between Colin (Sarah’s boyfriend) and Claire (Sarah’s little sister) so I’ll be doing a little of each. Here’s a Colin chapter. I’m not giving any context, cause well, that could spoil the story and we don’t want that now do we?

Also – word of warning – for those of you with delicate ears, you might want to skip this. There’s loads of bad language here.

I hang up just as Michael grabs me and pulls me out of the closet. The phone falls out of my hand, clattering to the floor. I don’t have time to balance myself, let alone get him off me, before he throws me against the wall of lockers.

Just for the record, you see this sort of shit in movies all the time―people getting thrown into walls and doors, and they just bounce right back like the whole place is padded or something. Well the lockers sure as shit aren’t padded, and as one of the locks grinds into my lower spine, I can promise you it hurts way more than you imagine. White hot pain shoots up to my shoulders.

“What the fuck did you say to her?” Michael growls.

For a moment everything goes blank and I curl my hand into a fist. Michael lets me go and I turn to walk away, but he’s not done, and now he grabs me again by the shirt and throws me back against the locker.

More pain and then something just snaps in my head. I picture them together. I see Michael kissing Sarah, taking off her clothes. I see him whispering in her ear. In my head everything goes white, and I swing.

My fist connects with his jaw and his head snaps back. I swing again, even though my hand is on fire with pain, and I worry that I broke at least a few bones. Michael turns fast, as my fist swishes through the air, just missing the wall of lockers. He swings, his fist connecting with my jaw, and the pain explodes up the side of my face.

A crowd of students gathers, giving us a wide berth.

I charge him, throwing my full weight against him and we hit the other wall with a bone shattering thwack. I land one solidly in Michael’s stomach and he doubles over.

“Fuck you.” I spit out a small red splotch of blood and scan the floor for my phone but don’t see it. I turn to look for it when I hear my name.

“Colin!” I look up and see Claire, her face a sheet of white. I want to say something, tell her I’m sorry and it’s okay, but right then Michael shoves me hard in the back throwing me off balance. When I turn to face him, his fist slams into my stomach and I hit the floor, my knees screaming in pain, coughing and sputtering.

“What the fuck did you say to her?” Michael leans down right next to my ear. “What the fuck did you say to Jenna, you sick fuck?”

I cough, spit up some blood. My lip is split open. I can barely get any air into my lungs.

“What the fuck did you say to Jenna?”

“Nothing.”

Michael grabs me by the shoulders and gives me a rough shake, as if trying to rattle the truth right out of me. His teeth are soaked in blood, the same blood drying on my fist. I split his lip wide open when I punched him, and I already see the bruises starting to blossom on his cheekbone. I wonder how I look. I dab at my own lip. I’ve never hit anyone in my life; yet Michael, who used to be my best friend, stands here bleeding all over me.

“I didn’t say anything.” I push him off me and struggle to stand.

“Why did Jenna come out crying, Colin? Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Michael, also out of breath, stands up, pointing a finger at me. “Listen you sick fuck. You go right ahead and fall apart, okay? I don’t care what you do to yourself. Go completely mental. Put yourself in the hospital. Fucking kill yourself. It’ll give the rest of us a fucking break. I don’t care. But so help me God, I refuse to let you take Jenna down with you. She’s been through too much. Not Jenna. Not after we lost Sarah.”

I see white again. Hear a buzzing noise in my ears. “We? What the fuck do you mean ‘we’?”

So there you go. Cursing, blood, high school fist fights. Remember when I said this was a quiet sad story?